The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-07-06
A GRIZZLED STRANGER.
HE TELLS HOW lie MADE a MILE A
MINUTE ON HORSEBACK.
His Race Over the Devils Track--Why He
Felt Inclined to Make Such Good Time.

(From the Now York SUM
'I've made mile minute on horse
back, i'll the saddle"
AS grizzlcd stranger with n quartzite
pin made this remark, silence fell upon
the little group of turfmon who sat in
the corridor OF the Windsor Hotel, at
Denver, the other evening. The man
who had just told of driving an unro-
corded mile III Oil arose deliberately,
brushed tho ashes off his cigar, buttoned
his ovorcoat, and walked away. 81 am
liar, myself, somebody began.
"Hold on" said the stranger, "lris
isn't lie. It's cold, clammy truth, and
I'll back it with money"
"Ilavc you the papers for it?"
"No, nor the judges aflidavits. In
fact, nobody saw it except myself, but if
you will permit me to tell you the cir
cumstances, Iii leave it to yourself
whether it isn't a fuct."
"Blaze away"
The group drew closer Even the man
who had walked off suspended his con-
versation with the hotel clerk and lis
tened on the quiet. The grizzicd stran-
or removed section Of tobacco from his
mouth and began:
"Ihis happened five years ago last
fall. was living in Lcadvillo ut the
time, but had mining interests that took
me frequently into the outlying districts
for radius OF perhaps a dozen miles.
These trips 1 nearly always made on
horseback, on Il tough little broncho,
hard mouthcd, trained to mountain
roads, and capable OF keeping up Jog
trot at n pinch for twenty hours on n
stretch On the occasion in question ]
started worry carly one clear, cold morn
ing for claim 1 owned on the other
side of the divide, on the slope of what
is called Gold Mountain-you can find it
by looking on any map. TO reach it |
had to first cross Tennessee park and
then wind over II very crooked, tortuous
trail that gradually assembled to n pass
somewhere above Timber Pine. 1t was
not more than two miles as the crow
flies, but nine by the road, owing to the
frequent Higzagging or tacliing made
necessary by the stccpncss of the range.
"l took things easy, and it was about
noon when | reached the claim / had
II couple of men ut work there, ate din
ner at their cabin, and then went over
to look at the shaft. One has no idea
how rapidly time passes underground,
where everything is dark, and when |
came up | was surprised to find that it
was nearly 4 o'clock, and the shadows Of
pimons Il hundred yards oil had crawled
up to the windlass. | was annoyed, too,
for there was n suggestion of snow in the
air, and the ride across Tennessee park
in storm well, the less said about it
the better. SO lost no time in getting
into the saddle, and pushed rapidly
ahead toward the pass. [ had to go
quite little distance before | reached
it, and all the time the sky grew graver,
and presently a few flakes began to fall.
| urged the broncho, and finally began
the descent.
"Thc road beyond the pass led down
long, straight incline for about quar-
ter OF mile. This took it to the fringes
of timber pine, and then it made de,
tour OF nearly two miles to get around
spur of the range. At that point |
paused. The idea occurred to me that
could make II short cut by going directly
over the spur and striking the trail on
the other side. The range was not par
ticularly steep ut this place, but rather
n succession of rough emincnccs, and the
undertaking did not seem to be accom-
panied by danger. \ sudden raw wind
decided me. turned the broncho off
the road and started.
"Iho plan appeared the moro feast
BILE as l advanced What looked like
steep ascents ut a distance proved to be
gentle ones and was soon pretty near
ly across. The spur was well wooded
with old pine trees, some of which had
rotted as they lay, and on the far side
the dcclivity extended down at an even
slope clear to the valley, where big rocks
and boulders looked like grains of blast
ing powder, and the road like tiny
streak. [ remember yet how, betW zen
the tree tops, | caught glimpse of the
park with the Arkansas river winding
through it, and the whole thing looking
like some map in my old geography.
That was the last thing that impressed
itself on my mind before my horse stag
gered, stumbled, plunged little, and
then camo down with n crash, first on
his fore legs and then fiat on his belly,
his head down hill. / can't readily de-
| scribe it, but he fell in such way that
my right leg, without being crushed or
even much bruised, was twisted in the
stirrup strap and caught fast.
"Right here let me stop to explain a
circumstance that will enable you to un-
derstand the situation. Down in the
valley, at the base of Gold Mountain,
was sawmill owned by George Lacy,
of Leadville, and extending up from It's
| yard, almost to timber line, was what is
called log shoot. This is simply a
V-shapcd trough, large enough to hold
good-sized pine trunk, and built solid
ly against the face of the mountain OF
course it has to be straight, or nearly so
to permit the logs to slide down without
obstruction, and use soon makes the
inside as smooth as glass. Such con
trivGnce saves great deal of hauling,
for as the trees are cut, they arc dragged
over and dumped into the trough, and
go down to the yard like streak of
lighting. In the course of time, the
pressure will drive the trough in pretty
nearly level TO the earth. This was the
case with the Lacy shoot. Moreover, il
had not been used for about n year, and